A fluorescent electrical ballast is a long rectangular metal box or "can" which encloses the electrical components of a fluorescent light fixture. Electrical ballasts are typically mounted inside or directly behind the fixture. The ballast is generally filled with a sealer or "potting compound" which hardens around the electrical components to seal them inside.
To accomplish connection of the internal electrical components to external power and control lines, several discrete wires typically exit the ballast through the potting compound. During installation, the discrete wires are individually stripped and twisted together with corresponding external wires. A threaded protective cap is then screwed over each twisted pair to make the connection permanent. The conventional process is very labor intensive and costly. Moreover, it is oftentimes unsafe. The installer must climb to the height of the light fixture and make the necessary connections while maintaining his or her balance. In cases of repair, at least some of the wires are typically activated, or "hot." It is quite difficult to avoid the hot wires while stripping and connecting other wires, and severe electrical shocks may result.
Certain manufacturers have begun selling ballasts in which the discrete wires are already terminated in a connector. The above-described problems are largely avoided. However, the external wires must likewise be terminated in a mating connector. The mating connector also carries an array of conductive terminals to terminate the corresponding external wires, and such terminal connectors are quite costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,740 provides a partial solution in the form of an electrical ballast with integral ballast connector that mounts directly on the printed circuit board and faces outwardly from the ballast. The ballast connector receives and secures multiple discrete external wires in corresponding press-fit sockets. This eliminates the discrete wires which otherwise protrude from the ballast, and it requires no mating connector for the external wires. Unfortunately, it is still a burdensome task to organize and insert (or extract) the external wires one-by-one into (or from) the ballast connector.
It would be greatly advantageous to completely eliminate the need for individual handling of the wires during installation or repair of an electrical ballast without resorting to a full-blown mating terminal connector for the external wires.